WHY KOREANS WANT TO CLONE A DICTATOR

The article discussed the life and the works of one of the prominent figures in the history
of South Korea, Park Chung Hee, a man who have vision for a South Korea that can sustain its
own and defend on its own against the threat of the North, a South Korea that can flourish and be
relevant to the world market and an economically developed that the people would enjoy the
fruits of their labors. This began on the day that Park, with those under him in the South Korean
Army, launch a coup against their own government, with the realization that the current
government was infested with the problems of corruption, injustice, and to overcome centuries of
backwardness, foreign domination and decay. The countrys condition before the reign of Park
was much worse than any other in the Asian region and this prompted the need for change in the
government. The separation between North and South Korea during that time was also a problem
because most of the industry was situated on the Northern Peninsula that it left so little to those
living in the South, but with the reign of Park and the miracle that the country experience, the
difference would soon change and favor the South Koreans.
The idea of the Asian Model for development was adopted by Park and this model would
yield an unexpected development for the future of the country. Because of the countrys lack on
the industries needed for the economic development and the stagnation of the economy that the
country had suffered in the last half-century, the path towards building the economy would be of
no easy task especially for Park that had no background on such matters but was able to get his
people for the special board that would oversee the creation and implementation of the Asian
Model in the country. The idea for the Asian Model, as seen in the experience of Japan, was
picking of winners and supporting them with financing and protective barriers. The South
Koreans imported this model and seen as the nation that benefited the most in the understanding
of the Japanese success. In the start on the path towards economic development, and the belief of
Park that In human life, economics precedes politics or culture and with his developmental
dictatorial rule, this set the stage for the development that would soon be known as the South
Korean Miracle.
There were many factors in the economic development experience by the South Koreans,
and I think that one important thing in the development of the country would be the political will
imposed by the president over the programs and projects undertaken by the country. With the

security in position and that Park is not yet threatened with the change in the rulers of the
country, he was able to focus on the important economic development, aside from this in the
implementation of the policies and even with the creation of the Economic Planning Board, Park
would take it by himself and push through with projects that he sees as necessary for the country
such as the building of the expressways and the steel mills that would enable South Korea to
stand on its own, aside from this, the government intervention and the support they would give to
the chaebols of the country would yield development that the president envision. Another factor
to consider were the technocrats that Park chose in filling in the role of his advisers in the
countrys development. These people proved to be efficient and needed in the country as it was
lacking the experience and the capacity to train much of the population at that time, in addition to
this, the moves done by Park and some of the countrys prime builders, even though it is risky,
was a risk they needed to take to make things happen and they believe that it can happen.
With such progress and development that the reign of Park Chung Hee brought to the
country, even though there are flaws like the suppression of the people and the violations that
were done during that time, at the end of the day the president always believed that the end
justifies the means and that his vision of a historical new era for Korea, I believed, was realized.
Sadly, the reign was stopped due to the murder of the president that would only lead to another
dictatorial rule, I think that the people of Korea still think that Park would be fitting to bring
further progress to the country and continue the goal for the new era.